


Between the Lines

by thatdragonchic



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allison Argent & Stiles Stilinski Are Siblings, Allison is adopted, Gen, Hate to Love, Hinted Steo, Scallison, Steo, Stydia, and allisaac, future scallison, god knows if I'll ever continue this, i just watned to write steo, steo frienship, steo romance, stydia romance, theo is stiles best friend, there might be like a theo / allison affair
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-09-28 03:23:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10068965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatdragonchic/pseuds/thatdragonchic
Summary: Deep love can be rooted in the strangest of places, even between two friends in a world of teas and ladies. Even after Stiles and Theo take their brides, there was always something there that lingered, something that was rarely sought. Very few saw through it, in fact they have even fooled themselves.=1890's au





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is okay i guess?????? I don't really know where this is going or how it's going or if I'll ever continue it

Two british boys sat on the banks of a voluptuous river, one laying on his stomach with a novel at hand and the other on his back, staring up at the clouds. Their names, were Theo and Stiles. Enjoying the late afternoon away from school, after their classes and before it was time for afternoon tea, they lay on the plush grass in a forest, where wild flowers grew between the knots of tree roots.

“So what did you think of her? The american girl,” Theo asks in inquiry out of the silence.

“The american girl?”

“The one with fiery red hair, what did you think of her?”

“Well I suppose she was rather talkative, and she had interesting enough things to say.”

“But did you like her?”

“I don’t quite know for sure.”

“Your parents seem set on her. They loved her.”

“They think American’s are _so_ charming. They’re all the same to me.”

“Is that so?”

“Just so.”

“I see.”

They fall into silence.

“She’s not so bad Stiles.”

“What is that, now?”

“I said she’s not so bad. I danced with her, and she really is quite charming.”

“Perhaps I don’t like her.”

“Perhaps you give the poor girl a chance. You and I both know we’d have to marry sometime. Besides, you’re more likely to be happy than I am.”

“As my closest companion and best friend, I should say that you support me in the honest fact that I don’t like her- whatever her name was.”

“Lydia Martin,” Theo supplies.

“Yes, Lydia Martin,” Stiles repeats in distaste. “She may have money, but what worth is she when not she’s all that.”

“She’s all that and then some, you really ought’a give her a chance. I say it for your own good.”

“I just don’t see why they have to push me towards a woman so soon. Perhaps I finish university first. Get home, and settle back into aristocratic life, decide for a woman myself. And what of Elizabeth Darcy? My eyes have always been set on her.”

“Well sure, perhaps. Elizabeth is a nice girl but she’s middle class compared to you- compared to me too. I say that you take that girl Lydia, she suits you.”

“All this from your one dance with her?”

“Yes. I can’t quite place it but something about her fits your common thought and interest. You’d like her if you gave her a chance.”

“And I am just to believe you, Theo?”

“Trust in the gut of your best friend and closest companion.”

“I don’t always trust it so.”

“You won’t trust me on this then?”

“I don’t know. I hear she’ll be at the club this weekend, when we go hunting. Preparing meals with the other women.”

“And?”

“Perhaps we should talk to her then?”

“You shall talk to her then. I have nothing to do with it.”

“ _Theo_.”

“Well you’re not a baby now are you, Stiles?”

“What if she’s dreaded and boring?”

“She won’t be, I promise it.”

They fall into silence again, and as Stiles stares up at the clouds then over at his best friend, he notices how nice the light falls along his features, even with his head ducked and his eyes a darker shade of blue then normal, he concentrates on the words of _The Picture of Dorian Grey_ before pushing his hair back from his eyes, the swoop falling back into place again. Theo might make a girl really happy one day, he was so beautiful really.

“It’s not so bad, the book. I don’t see what people are so fussed about. Scandal reeks through London, and they’re all tongue tied on a few words by a homosexual. I don’t see much a problem.”

“There never really is one.”

“You’re right,” Theo agrees. “Keep that in mind come Sunday. There never really is a problem.”

“There’s always a problem when a British man should take an American woman. They did dump our tea in their harbors after all.”

At that Theo laughs. “And how we cherish tea that it’s scandal to marry Americans, even when they stand to be our greatest partners and show exceptional potential as a nation.”

“Not severely exceptional, over radical perhaps.”

“Indeed, I see now.”

“Yes, I see now too.”

They exchange momentary glances and Stiles eyes glance towards the line of the trees. “What time does your clock say?”

Theo checks. “Half past two. Have you still not gotten your watch fixed?”

“Not yet but I will, soon.”

“Of course.”

“Perhaps it’s just nice when it feels as though time doesn’t pass. Stuck in momentary absence of a single moment forever.”

“Behold the romantic of 1890, our beloved Lord Stilinski.”

Stiles laughs. “It’s true.”

“You won’t live forever, no matter what you do. You’re stuck in the train of time, my friend.”

“Yes and in the warp of aristocratic life. But God blesses us and not others.”

“Amen.”

“Yes indeed, Amen.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allison pays Stiles a visit at school  
> Stiles and Theo engage in a hunting party as recreation with Scott and Lydia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a lot longer to write than I originally planned

Allison walks through the corridors to her brothers room, finds him laying in the bed, writing in a book. “Books are already written you know,” She tells Stiles who looks up and his features light up at the sight of his sister. She was in a red and gold dress, her hair tied back in a dutch braid. 

“Well if we didn’t write our thoughts in them, perhaps we’d never make any sense of them at all,” he tells her, standing to welcome her and she rushes forward to hug him, his arms catching her in a tight embrace. 

“I did miss you so. Mummy and daddy are going absolutely crazy with the children and you so far from home.”

“Ah yes, how are our younger brothers?”

“They’re doing their best. They miss you too. We all do. How is it here?”

“The same as it has been since I started… The same classes and books- Oh, just yesterday afternoon I had went out to this beautiful place Theo found in the woods-”

“And you two copulated until the sunset!”

“Allison! No- Jesus, do you have any sense at all? To think for a second I really missed you. No, we just went and sat and as good friends do.”

“Well if it’s so frustrating you wish that you copulated until the sun set.”

“I do not,” Stiles whispers, cheeks heating up with embarassment. “He’s been my best friend since childhood, if I wanted a man I’d pick a more tolerable one. Like your spanish friend, Scott.”

“What’s wrong with Scott?”

“Nothing. He’s handsome and tolerable.”

“And Theo is witty and gorgeous without a shirt on.”

“Please. Why don’t you sleep with him then?”

“Well I did arrive with purpose,” she teases. “Perhaps I’ll take him to lunch if you two don’t have plans.”

“He’s just as rich as we are.”

“Yes but it’s forward thinking for women to take men out to lunch.”

“Allison- will you be at the hunt this weekend?” Stiles asks abruptly and she raises an eyebrow.

“Yes why?”

“Well Theo thinks that I’d be rather suited with the American girl that mummy liked so much.”

“Lydia?”

“Yes, has everyone become her best friend suddenly?”

“She came for coffee yesterday while you and Theo contemplated the meaning of God and Life by a river yesterday. You do know that that is so 1760, don’t you? Marie Antoinette type.”

“Yes, I’m aware. So you’re friendly with her?”

“I think she’s lovely. She would be rather suited for you. Fast talker, charming, warm, big smile, good heart. She’s almost your opposite but in a way that would suit you. Balance you out even. You would love her, to the end of your days. And gorgeous children.”

“I didn’t like her!”

“Give her a chance! You barely spoke to her when you met her. Talk to her again. Papa doesn’t like her much, he says she’s too American but mother loves her. You ought’a talk to her. Give her a chance, Stiles. You’ve got to.”

“I do not have to give her anything.”

“She’ll be there this weekend. Show off to her.”

“I’m the best of the best, I do not need to show off anything to anybody.”

“You’re self saturated.”

“I was raised to be a true renaissance man. Besides, she’s American. I’d say hello and she would swoon.”

“She thinks you’re very handsome. She said so.”

“She told you that?”

“Yes, she said she was nervous to talk to you, that you seemed so… Lordly was how she put it. Meaning poised and strong and probably suitable husband material, if you know what I mean.” She laughs and Stiles rolls his eyes but bites his flush lower lip. “Don’t be afraid to open your heart, men may have to be strong, but there is nothing wrong with opening your heart to somebody new. Even if it’s a whispy, rich American girl. She’s in with Rockerfeller, she’s got connections, she’s got money, and you impressed her. She looked at you and went  _ wow _ . You must admit that all women are hard to charm like that- they all know what to expect from men like you and she knew- she  _ knew  _ that you were something else. Not Theo, and not Scott and not any other man in that room. She saw you. Doesn’t that deserve at least a conversation?”

Stiles fidgets, uncomfortable in his skin- his heart swells with panic, afraid of letting in the wrong person, afraid of all the things he and Allison have both been warned of. The good, the bad and the evil. The demolition that the wrong person could do, the terrorizing of their reputation. 

“Trust your big sister Stiles,” Allison whispers and Stiles sighs, glancing to the door as Theo walks in. 

“Your lunch date is here,” he tells her and Theo raises an eyebrow.

“Pardon?”

“Allison has become a modern woman since we last saw her, she’d like to take you out to lunch.”

“Well I’m awfully flattered. Whatever you said to him has him flushed and ready to run.”

“Lydia Martin has stolen his heart.”

“Well I saw it coming. Now come on, I know this restaurant with an amazing Cream of Mushroom soup and this amazing marzipan cake for dessert that you’d love.”

“And pudding? Do they have pudding?” She asks hopefully, linking arms with Theo.

“Of the best kind.”

“Chocolate?” she asks giggling and he agrees, their voices trailing into the distance. Stiles watches them with careful ease, and he always felt that those two would end up together- yet they both drift and pull apart with other men or women. They matched wits, they were good together. He wonders, if they just gave each other the chance, that they could end up together, and be truly, in every sense of the word, happy.

 

\--

 

Noah notices the sudden drop of guard, in his always seemingly secure son. The way his gaze flits over, so innocent and unshielded before he glances away and his guard rises again. He’s back to his gun, and he sees that Scott McCall is attempting to talk to him, in regards to his daughter's benefit probably. 

“He’s not a boy anymore Noah,” Elias inserts. “You don’t need to  _ watch  _ him, anymore. Stiles is a man now, he’s an Oxford man, and he’s educated, top of his class even. He doesn’t need you anymore.”

“He’s my son, he’ll always need me,” Noah asserts. Glancing back to his son, who’s taken up the conversation with Scott, rather boredly, it seems. Though the glint of amusement by the other man is evidently sparkling in his eyes. 

“No he won’t. The second you could, you ran from me. Why do you think he’s not doing the same?”

“Because I care for him, I love him.”

“Oh yes, and I’m the devil.”

“Not here, not in front of everyone Papa.”

Elias scoffs and waves for his other son to come and help him. “Daniel! Come over here and help your father-” Though before he could, Stiles turns and moves to help him, Smiling as he helps him up.

“Can you even carry a gun anymore grandpapa?”

“I’m not so weak boy, quit your teasing.” 

Stiles smiles, even as Daniel comes over to help Stiles. His eyes cross over to the American Girl, Lydia, who’s deep in engagement with Elizabeth. The two seem to get along well, and he admires her physique for it’s slenderness and its curves. The way green eyes shimmer in the sunlight. He reminds himself that it doesn’t matter, she’s an American, she won’t fit in, she won’t fulfill him. They were far too different. He helps his grandfather off to where he needs to be before being swept off by Theo. And he smiles kindly.

“Are you ready? I’m going to go fetch my horse, I suppose we’d be heading out soon.”

“Your grandpapa doesn’t seem very happy with your papa.”

“They’re never happy with each other… I don’t see why my father can’t just… love him. You know what I mean? Yes, Grandpapa can be very difficult but he’s not so horrible. He’s not so bad. He’s just a sick old man.”

“And you’re a soft hearted lover boy on the inside,” Theo cooes, laughing as Stiles brow arches with malice. 

“Shush you. You have no place to speak.”

“I’m not so outwardly cold as you. I’m charming and dazzling and such a sweetheart.”

“Nobody compares to me, darling. I’m the English sweetheart of everyones lives. A friend to us all in good faith.”

Theo laughs wholeheartedly and it makes a few heads turn, and Stiles smiles, proud of himself for making his friend laugh. “Yes, a friend to us all indeed,” Theo agrees, still laughing. It makes the others in the room wonder what was said between them, how the warmth of friendship stayed so warm and Stiles feels like his stature was protected this way. Nobody knew or had to. He glances to Lydia and this time he meets her eye, he keeps his brow arched and turns back to Theo who watches.

“Go talk to her.”

“Now?”

“No when she’s boarding her boat back home. _ Yes _ now.” 

Stiles shakes his head. “It’d be more proper after the hunt.”

“If you say so.”

 

The wilderness thrummed with life, the neck of woods chiming with bird song and singing with cricket chime. Stiles stands beside Scott, watching him hesitate as he aims at a bird in the tree. 

“Well shoot it McCall, it's just a bird, it won’t bite.”

“I don’t like hunting very much. Why shoot all these birds?”

“They go to butchers, get fed to cats. Remind me to take you duck shooting one day.”

“Ducks have never wronged anyone, neither has that bird.”

“My sister, your lover, would fair to disagree. She was bit by a duck once. Nasty wound came of it really.”

“I see. So it’s vengence?”

“No it’s good fun.” 

“ _ Oh _ .”

“Oh indeed.”

Theo scoffs as he comes up behind them and takes a shot at the bird. He misses just a by a quarter of a centimeter. Ruffled the feathers a bit maybe. “See if you don’t want to kill it, aim to miss, McCall. You’ve got t’learn the tricks,” Theo whispers in a sultry kind of manner and Stiles mounts his horse again and rides to catch a deer by the reins. He almost feels a deep remorse for it, a horrid guilt, but he knows, by spirit, men like him must love hunting and it is really, awfully silly to even think that he should feel bad for the animal. 

And Scott, who’s followed on his own horse, watches with eyes full of curiosity. The genuine form of Stiles against the blended greens and browns, seems to be so solemn and soft. He wonders how men could train boys to be like soldiers in the form of gentlemanship. He wonders if Stiles feels as trapped as he seems to be sometimes. Scott feels an awful lot of pity for his companion, and he recalls Allison telling him that Stiles is ‘not well versed on opening doors for others’ and he really does, truly wonder, why that may as well be. He rides up beside him and he looks to Stiles who is fingering at the leather of the gun. 

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“I almost feel bad for it.”

“It’s just a deer, Stilinski. It can’t bite anymore now that you’ve shot it.”

“And that’s the bloody well problem isn’t it? He’ll make a good stew though.”

“Sentimental boys est mon nom de plume,” Scott teases and Stiles smiles. He feels a victory soar in his heart and the two trot off, to find where Theo went off to, consequently the arms of a more obnoxious group. He’s hardly amused but he outshoots all of them. Stiles cracks a smirk and leans over to Scott. 

“See Lord Dartmouth, with the red cross ascot?”

“Yes..?” Scott looks to Stiles.

“I heard that he slept with Merryweather Hartford of the Oxford Event planning commity. Now the thing is, he has no merrit to get into a prestigious school like Oxford, other than the fact he has his money, and well… Sleeping with Merryweather might score him a position in some class or another.”

“You think?”

“Yes. I know. Many have done it before, she’s a Class Ass whore when it comes to it, but what a cunning girl. Her creative sense of malice is admirable really. See, she gets him to take off his clothes and she can do whatever she damn pleases. Toy with his education, his status, his everything. Where he gets in, what he studies, who knows of what they do. And in the end, she’ll say that she never done did a thing, but he came pleading and well… she had to do something. She has quite the way about her, and her way can dictate a man’s life.”

“How do you know all that?”

“Friend of mine, political friend, told me all about it. He did her wrong, I suppose.”

They both laugh, the unimplied joke enough to scoff at. 

“So you think he’ll get in.”

“Not if I have a say in it. If he does, he’ll be miserable.”

“Do you have a say?”

“Well rumor has it, she quite likes Theo, charming boy as he, but Theo… has his eyes-”  _ on Allison “ _ Elsewhere. I could have a hand in it, a hand over her if Theo is so willing to comply.”

“That’s if Theo doesn’t shoot him through the head.”

“Nasty lad, he would deserve it you know.”

“Horrid thing to say.”

“It’s the truth.”

 


End file.
